Georgians rally in support of EU membership ahead of elections | Protests News [Video]

Tens of thousands of people in Georgia have attended a pro-Europe rally, days before parliamentary elections seen as a crucial test for the country’s democracy and its bid for European Union membership.

Saturday’s vote will pit an unprecedented alliance of pro-Western opposition forces against the ruling Georgian Dream party, accused by Brussels of shifting towards authoritarianism and derailing EU candidate Georgia from its European path.

Pro-Western President Salome Zurabichvili – at loggerheads with the government – attended Sunday’s rally, which she has said would “demonstrate people’s will for freedom, independence, and a European future”.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators, waving EU and Georgian flags and holding banners that read “Georgia chooses the European Union” gathered at Tbilisi’s central Freedom Square after marching towards the venue from five different locations.

Several Georgian NGOs, including Georgia’s European Orbit and the “My Voice to the EU” coalition, called on Georgians to stage a mass rally there.

“Choosing unity, development, and the European Union, Georgians will …